First of all, Senator Bob Menendez might not even be indicted. Leaks out of the Justice Department have been notoriously unreliable since Chris Christie resigned as U.S. Attorney in 2008.

If Menendez is indicted, he probably will not resign. In his press conference this evening, the Senator defiantly insisted on the “appropriateness and lawfulness” of his relationship with Dr. Salomon Melgen, the Florida ophthalmologist who is Menendez’s friend and benefactor. He declared that he is not going anywhere.

If, as CNN speculates, Menendez is charged with corruption this month, it could be Halloween before he goes to trial. Former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell was indicted in January of 2014. His trial didn’t start until late July and didn’t end to early September. Unless Menendez makes a deal to avoid prosecution that includes his resignation, there is not likely to be a Special Election to fill the Senate seat until next year….2016, the year of the next presidential election.

If Chris Christie is still Governor in 2016 and Menendez’s seat becomes vacant, he will get to choose the next Senator and set the date a special election. There could be a mid-year Special Election or the Special Election could be on the same day as the presidential election. There’s no way to know now what is likely to happen.

Still, the prospect of a Senatorial vacancy stirs speculation and the phone lines among both Democrats and Republicans have been burning this afternoon since the news of the possible prosecution broke.

Congressman Robert Andrews will resign as a representative of the southern jersey 1st congressional district, according to a reports in Poltico and The Philadephia Inquirer.

Once a Democratic contender for statewide office who competed in primaries for Governor and U.S. Senate, Andrews’s career has apparently been derailed by an ethics investigation into the misuse of campaign funds. He is taking a job with a Philadelphia law firm, according to The Inquirer.

The Inquirer, majority owned by South Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross, is reporting that State Senator Donald Norcross, the boss’s brother, will be the Democratic nominee for Andrew’s seat in the House.